GLENAVON V NEWINGTON, A LOOK AHEAD

On Saturday 19th September 2026 Glenavon faces Newington at Mourneview Park in its eighth BOYLE Sports Championship fixture.

Newington, managed by Declan O’Hara, has made an excellent start to the season and currently sits top of the Championship with five wins and two draws from seven matches. Last Saturday O’Hara’s men drew 5-5 with Dundela at Solitude. Aaron Heaney scored a fine hat-trick.

Glenavon boss Michael O’Connor expects a tough 90 minutes. “Newington is top of the league and playing with confidence,” he said. “They’re scoring a lot of goals. I watched their match against Dundela. They scored five but could have scored ten. The same could be said about the Duns. It will be a hard game. Obviously, we have not picked up as many points over the last fortnight as we had hoped to. This match will give us a chance to put that right and get a win.”

O’Connor reckons that the North Belfast side is strong in both midfield and attack. “They create a lot of chances,” he explained. “The front two of Aaron Heaney and Mick Morgan both carry a threat. Heaney is in great form. Morgan, who was at Bangor, is also a good player. They have three men in midfield who have played together for at least a couple of seasons. They like to get it forward. We will need to be organised and disciplined to keep them at bay.”

Michael was disappointed with his team’s performance at Ballinamallard. “From an attacking point of view, it was the worst we have played so far,” he admitted. “We like to play attacking football, but we struggled to create. We didn’t get Peter [Campbell] and Jude [Johnson] on the ball enough. It was not like us.”

Brandon Doyle and Ballinamallard United defender Nathan Sherry tussle for the ball during last Saturday’s match at Ferney Park.

Nonetheless, the Blues’ boss was pleased with the defensive side of Glenavon’s game. “We really limited them to one good scoring chance,” he added. “The goal they scored wasn’t even, in that sense, an opportunity which they created. It was probably the smallest number of chances we have given up in any match so far. That was a positive, but, overall, we didn’t hit the levels we had hoped to reach.”

The Belfast man felt that his team did not move the ball quickly enough. “We got down the sides of their defence a couple of times in the first fifteen minutes, but generally the speed of our play was too slow. We allowed them time to get into good defensive positions. To be fair, they did well and made it difficult. But we could have done better.”

O’Connor remains positive about Glenavon’s promotion prospects. “It is still early days,” he added. “The match against Newington will not define our season but it is a chance to close the gap and improve our position. It is the first of a series of fixtures against clubs around or above us. We want to get that run off to a good start.”

Michael revealed that Luke Cartwright, who was substituted in the first half at Ferney Park, is a fitness doubt. “Luke came off with a slight calf problem,” he said. “He did not train earlier in the week. We will assess him again before Saturday.” Niall Quinn has also struggled somewhat with a calf problem. “Quinny has been feeling his calf 60-65 minutes into games,” the boss added. “It is something we are looking at. Hopefully, he will still be available this weekend.”

Saturday’s match sponsor is a group of former Glenavon directors.

The match ball sponsor is committed supporter Barry Craig.

The Zi0 Restaurant “Player of the Match” sponsor is the Spirit of 2014 Glenavon Supporters’ Club.

Thanks to the Park Avenue Takeaway, Avenue Road, Lurgan for supplying hot food for half-time hospitality in the Boardroom and Skinny’s Pizza, Mourne Road, Lurgan for providing post-match food for the players of both teams.

Glenavon is grateful to all its sponsors and benefactors.

There will be a bucket collection in support of Teen Challenge N.I. This is an exciting charity which helps those with life controlling problems, particularly drug and alcohol issues. Please give generously.

Other Glenavon teams in action:

  • Friday 18th September 2026 – Glenavon U-18s v Ballinamallard United U-18s, Lurgan Junior High School 3G, kick-off: 8 pm.
  • Saturday 19th September 2026 – Cliftonville U-16s v Glenavon U-16s, Valley Leisure Centre, Newtownabbey, kick-off: 11 am.
  • Saturday 19th September 2026 – Glenavon U-15s v Larne U-15s, Lurgan Junior High School 3G, kick-off: 9.30 am.